e m aster’s b

g am oo
e ko
th f

e
TRAPS, PUZZLES
AND DUNGEONS

fil
e
pl
m

Illustrations by contributions from

Jasmine Kalle Three Black Halflings
& kyle hilton & Jasmine Bhullar
Sa

A punishing collection of bone-crunching contraptions, brain-teasing riddles

and stamina-testing encounter locations for 5th Edition RPG Adventures
Jeff Ashworth
Foreword by Plus
Jim Davis & 3 One-Shot
Jonathan Pruitt Adventures!
 e m aster’s b
g am oo
e ko
th f
TRAPS, PUZZLES

e
AND DUNGEONS

fil
e
pl
m

Illustrations contributions from

by Jasmine Three Black Halflings
Sa

Kalle and Jasmine Bhullar

A punishing collection of bone-crunching contraptions, brain-teasing riddles

and stamina-testing encounter locations for 5th Edition RPG Adventures
Jeff Ashworth
 e m aster’s b
g a m o ok
h e of
t
TRAPS, PUZZLES

e
AND DUNGEONS

fil
contents
04 06 Disruptive Traps pg. 86

Foreword | Introduction
These traps slow the party down by
sending them somewhere else.

Complex Traps pg. 97

One-Shot Adventures
10
e Legendary-level traps that feature
numerous means of dealing death.
pl
The Spire and the Scab
A quiet mountain town is rocked by an
pg. 12
108
earthquake that releases an ancient evil. Puzzles
Pick of the Litter pg. 28 Rhymes & Riddles pg. 110
In order to help a sphinx cub become a A collection of vexing questions worthy of
m

guardian for the gods, the party must even the most inscrutable sages.
solve a series of deadly puzzles as part of a
competition on the Plane of Heroes. Ciphers pg. 117
Coded messages and ways to easily
Skhalhammer Manor pg. 44
implement them into ongoing adventures.
The party must do battle with their
own nightmares inside a museum-like Gateway Puzzles pg. 122
manor house.
Sa

Sometimes opening a door involves far

more than turning a key.

62
Traps
Painful Traps pg. 64
These traps are designed to hurt, rather
than destroy, your party. Still, some traps
work too well.

Deadly Traps pg. 75

Fun fact: A wizard can’t cast spells if he’s
been decapitated.
 142
Dungeon Chambers
A collection of 50 rooms from which your party may not escape.

1. The Tower of Hope pg. 146 26. The Cavern of Cages pg. 196
2. The Holding Cells pg. 148 27. The Wall of Despair pg. 198
3. The Pit of Pendulums pg. 150 28. Tomb of the Forgotten pg. 200

4. The Open Chasm pg. 152
5. The Wave Pool pg. 154
6. The Firevault pg. 156
7. The Switchback pg. 158
e
29. The Tumbler pg. 202
30. The Rotten Temple pg. 204
31. Construct Loop pg. 206
32. The Monstrous Closet pg. 208

8. The Titan’s Trap pg. 160
9. The Mossy Hill pg. 162
10. The Lava Floor pg. 164
11. The Turntable pg. 166
12. The Perilous Crossing pg. 168
13. The Swimming Statues pg. 170
14. The Octogenarium pg. 172
15. The Piston Palace pg. 174
16. A Miniature Fortress pg. 176
17. The Gear Box
18. The Dungeoneer
19. The Underport
20. The Ball Pit
e pg. 178
pg. 180
pg. 182
pg. 184
pl
21. The Sand Pit pg. 186
22. The Oozing Throne pg. 188
23. Shadow’s End pg. 190
24. The Cursed Treasury pg. 192
25. The Garden of Reflection pg. 194
m
fil
33. The Final Ballroom pg. 210
34. Goblin Gully pg. 212
35. The Doors to Elsewhere pg. 214
36. The Elemental Laboratory pg. 216
37. The Hanging Pool pg. 218
38. The Chained Champion pg. 220
39. The Pixies’ Palace pg. 222
40. The Hive pg. 224
41. The Armory pg. 226
42. The Bramble
43. Those Four Pools
44. The Fungal Sanctuary
45. The Narrows
pg. 228
pg. 230
pg. 232
pg. 234
46. The Horrible Maw pg. 236
47. The Bogmuck pg. 238
48. The Chow Line pg. 240
49. The Ascent pg. 242
50. The Herbalist’s Greenhouse pg. 244

246
Random Selectors
Random Trap Selector pg. 246
Sa

Random Puzzle Producer pg. 248

Random Dungeon pg. 250

Chamber Generator
 e
fil
e
pl
m

“A fantastic drag-and-drop resource for any GM who wants to shake

things up and challenge their players with unique scenarios. The Game
Master’s Book of Traps, Puzzles and Dungeons is a must-have for your
Sa

collection—sure to add fun to your adventures for years to come.”

—Aaron Hübrich, Publisher and Creative Director, Jetpack7

“As sharp as a razor-spiked pit and as clever as a sphinx with a Ph.D.

in puzzlecraft. If you see your GM toting this book around, you’d better
bring your ‘A’ game, too!”
—Matt Forbeck, New York Times-bestselling author,
Dungeons & Dragons: Endless Quest, Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game
 Foreword

e
HETHER IT’S THE FRUSTRATING SNARES
of cunning kobolds or the deadly tombs of ancient liches, tricky

fil
traps and mysterious puzzles are a staple of fantasy roleplaying.
Puzzles and traps turn a benign locale into a site of adventure
by adding an element of danger and uncertainty. They form a
spectrum of game elements that GMs can use to spice up dungeon crawls and other adventure
locations. Unfortunately, there are challenges with visualizing a trap or puzzle and relaying that
information to the players in a satisfying way. It’s all too easy to fall into the “trap” of ignoring
these key features of fantasy adventures entirely, or worse, turning them into perfunctory threats
that amount to little more than a hit point tax with scant room for player choice. Didn’t invest
in the right character options? Sorry! Take some unavoidable and arbitrary damage and move

e
along the dungeon corridor.

What a missed opportunity! We’ve all seen so many bad traps and puzzles in play that it can be
hard to recognize a good trap or puzzle: one that enriches gameplay by presenting an opportunity
pl
for the players to interact with the fantastic environment beyond just a simple die roll. In so many
ways, they are the beating heart of exploration-based play because a good trap or puzzle requires
the players to make choices regarding how to overcome it.

A good trap or puzzle hints at its potential dangers and secrets, signaling to attentive players that
something is off and it’s worth investigating further. It invites them to ask questions about the
game world to discover its secrets (“What’s this stuff covering the floor?” “What are those symbols
m

carved into the brick?” “What’s that smell?” “Can we see the ceiling?”). The cycle of player question
and GM response helps bring the fantastic location to life as play reveals more details about the
world and what’s in it.

A good trap or puzzle facilitates interaction between the players and the adventure’s environment
because it is a part of the setting, not just a nebulous game mechanic. This introduces an element
Sa

of player choice that’s especially essential to making traps engaging problems to solve. Furthermore,
a good trap or puzzle adds a new wrinkle to the game, regardless of its lethality. Effects that change
the dungeon layout, create an ongoing hazard, split the party or result in untimely death make
gameplay more exciting and unpredictable. After all, the point of including devious traps, tricks
and puzzles in our adventures is to create places worth exploring with challenges that will take the
game in surprising directions. The best part is, with The Game Master’s Book of Traps, Puzzles and
Dungeons, the hard work of designing game mechanics has already been done! So, kick back, flip
open a page and start building a dungeon your players will never forget!

Jim Davis & Jonathan Pruitt

Web DM

The Game Master’s Book of Traps, Puzzles and Dungeons 5

 Introduction

e
fil
Welcome to
The Game Master’s Book of
Traps, Puzzles and Dungeons...
e
I
t’s happened to the best of us: You’ve placed hook after hook to get your party
pl
to venture into the ancient temple beneath the city in order to find the artifact
that will help them banish their nemesis once and for all, a cryptic poem
their only clue to a safe path forward. Or maybe they’ve got their primary foe
cornered, holed up in her keep—with a powerful army at her disposal, the
only way in is to venture into the flooded crypts beneath the castle, a labyrinth of
m

chambers crawling with the walking corpses of adventurers who died trying to do
the same thing. Or you’ve been building to an epic showdown with a cursed metallic
dragon (Potentia, the Eternal Conundrum) and your party has foolishly agreed to
enter its gauntlet of puzzle-like traps and trap-like puzzles. As you ponder what the
next session—a guaranteed slog through perilous chamber after perilous chamber—
Sa

will bring, one question weighs heavy on your mind:

Now what?

How do you create dungeons as complex as your antagonists? How do you present
a legendary trap or puzzle without raiding your favorite Indiana Jones film?
Where do you turn when your party is up against a motivated mastermind with 24
Intelligence, and so far, all you have in your prep notes is “Can sharks cast fireball?”
Look no further. The Game Master’s Book of Traps, Puzzles and Dungeons has
answers to these and many other questions—some you didn’t even know to ask.
 What This Book Is
The Game Master’s Book of Traps, Puzzles and
Dungeons is a collection of just that: terrifying traps,
punishing puzzles and dangerous dungeon chambers
meant to challenge and imperil your party in ways that
force them to bow to your singular genius, beg for your
mercy and, as necessary, roll up a new set of characters
as tears stream down their cheeks (you know, if you’re
into that sort of thing).
The traps section features dozens of deadly
creations meant to maim, move or massacre
adventurers foolhardy enough to venture into a dungeon
without their thieves’ tools handy. There are also a few
complex traps that become more difficult to disrupt
when attempting to disarm them in case your party’s
rogue wants to put their reputation as a reliable talent
on the line. Each trap is presented as being a meaningful
threat to parties at Levels 5–10, and the DCs and damage
associated with falling victim to them can be adjusted (or
not) at your discretion based on the actual levels of the
characters encountering them. The detailed illustrations
for many of these traps should serve to further feed the
more sadistic segments of your imagination.
The puzzles portion of the book features a
e
collection of rhyming riddles as well as ready-made
ciphers you can incorporate into your adventures
when presenting NPCs with a flair for the dramatic or
pl
mysterious, and each includes an adventure hook or
placement suggestion in case you are intrigued by a
riddle but unsure of where to slot it in. The section also
includes a series of gateway puzzles that serve as ways
to block doors or unlock hidden chambers—old school
tabletop challenges that will test your players’ problem-
solving skills as much as it does their PCs’.
The dungeon chambers section features 50 unique
m
rooms that can be slotted into any adventure that
requires a trip into a forbidden temple, fortified fortress
or lich’s lair. These rooms are packed with peril and even
though each chamber’s description includes a map to lay
out its specifics, they’re designed with flexibility in mind.
And because most dungeons aren’t devoid of deadly
personnel, in addition to the environmental hazards and
Sa
overwhelming obstacles presented, each chamber also
features an optional variant encounter table meant to
help you insert inhabitants as necessary when the party
starts to get cocky. Again...if that’s your thing.
This book also features three one-shot adventures,
each created in a way that allows for the inclusion of
traps, puzzles and dungeons pulled randomly from this
book. Each adventure has a suggested party level, but
ways to scale the challenges they present up or down as
necessary have been provided for use at your discretion.
*Well, and that of the party’s. They’re the ones who chose to enter the Temple of a Thousand Traps as Level 3s.
**Or don’t, you beautiful psychopath.
What This Book Is Not
The Game Master’s Book of Traps, Puzzles and
Dungeons is not for the faint of heart. Some of the
dungeons presented deal significant damage by default
(lava’s like that sometimes), so if your players aren’t
jonesing to try out a completely different character in
the short term, you may want to ensure they proceed
with caution.
This book is not definitive when it comes to
e
damage. Dice totals for damage are presented as an aid,
not a final word, so if your party reacts negatively to the
fact that a boulder fell 200 ft. and landed directly on
their paladin and the rules of 5e physics (and this book)
fil
would suggest the boulder deals an armor-crushing 70
(20d6) bludgeoning damage, the paladin’s plot armor
might protect them from death at your discretion. The
stakes are always as high as you choose to raise them,
and any resulting TPKs are on your head.*
The same can be said when it comes to the answers
to the riddles or challenges presented in the Puzzles
or Traps sections. If your merry band of adventurers
present a particularly clever solution to a puzzle or
divine a way to disarm a trap other than the ones that
are presented here, feel free to reward rather than
rebuke them for their creativity.
This book does not feature one big dungeon.
Instead, the dungeon chambers section is presented
as a series of chambers you can choose to connect at
your leisure. Not every room will make sense within
the world you’re constructing, and you may need
to augment the flavor text or aesthetics of certain
chambers to better align with previously established lore
associated with the spots you’re dropping these rooms
into. Is there a temple where it makes sense for there
to be a river of lava and a chamber that’s completely
underwater? Sure. Could that river of lava be a river
of water instead? Of course. Same with the flooded
chamber, though if you go this route, please reread the
previous paragraph about nerfing damage dice and
adjust accordingly.**
The flavor text in this book is not always going
to be accurate. The presentation style assumes your
party is moving forward together into a space, and the
maps provided are meant to serve as an aid for you and
the players in case an encounter takes place and they
need to know whether or not they can misty step across
a chasm or cone of cold a chimera. But because every
party is unique, some may stroll into a space single file,
while others might waltz in as a group. Some parties
split up and send a silent-stepping scout ahead, while
others prefer to let a familiar they found do this task for
them. You may need to adjust statements in the flavor
text to accommodate your party’s particular approach
The Game Master’s Book of Traps, Puzzles and Dungeons 7
 to each room presented, or (in the case of rooms where
the doors close behind the party) hold off on presenting
some aspects of the chamber until the appropriate
moment as far as your narrative goes. When it comes to
flavor text, especially when trap-triggering events are at
play, it is impossible to be all things to all people—but
attempts have been made, as that seemed preferable to
giving nothing to everyone. Use your judgment while
accepting my apology.
Because the dungeons are meant to be modular,
the maps in this title also suffer from a similar issue.
Your party may be fleeing a room with a massive brass
gateway they just unlocked only to have you describe the
next chamber as having “a single, iron door, which closes
behind you.” Many of the maps included circumvent this
problem by including small hallways that lead into and
out of each chamber, connecting rooms via imaginary
halls you can flavor as necessary based on the previous
location. Still, it seemed a bit weird to create a bunch
of dungeon chamber maps without any doors at all,
so as you explore the section in question you’ll notice
that some maps have doors while others have tunnels
that lead “elsewhere.” Regardless, all means of egress
e
should be considered barred unless otherwise noted
within the explanatory text associated with the space or
determined at your discretion. In short: yes, that door is
locked. Yes, you’ll need a key or a lockpick. No, I will not
tell you where the key is hidden.
pl
This book is not a cry for help. Yes, there’s some
disturbing stuff in here, but I’m doing OK. Please take
me off your watch list.
m
Sa
How to Use This Book
When you see text styled like this, itʼs flavor text and
should be read out loud to describe specific actions,
relay important quotes or share pertinent details of the
location or situation the party finds themselves in.
e
GM NOTE: THIS IS A NOTE FOR YOU
Boxes that look like this are meant to draw your
fil
attention to information that is imperative to a
plot point in the one-shot adventures or to a
mechanic associated with the traps or puzzles.
Ignore it at your peril.
Maps. The maps presented in this book are presented on
a grid, and each square represents 5 ft. unless otherwise
noted. If you’d prefer to use theater of the mind, feel free
to adjust the sizes of different spaces to suit your needs as
necessary.
Variant encounters. When a party enters one of the
locations detailed in this book, roll on the Variant
Encounters table associated with the location to
determine whether or not you want that encounter to
trigger, or select one for yourself. These encounters add
flavor, urgency and variety to a given location and are one
of the main features of this book—so put them to use! Or
don’t. It’s your game.
Encounter variants. Similar to the variant encounters,
these optional adjustments typically refer to a location’s
atmosphere or climate. If you choose to use them, it’s
a good idea to roll on the tables before describing the
layout and features of a location to your party, as these
options can have a drastic impact on the way they might
approach an encounter here.
Tables. Each table in this book features an associated
dice value. If a table calls for you to roll 1d8, roll an
eight-sided die and follow the corresponding number to
determine what happens next—you know, just like every
roll table in every RPG book that has ever existed.
 Doors, Loot and Other Drawings
The maps in this book feature several recurring
features. Here’s a key:
DOOR. This is an entrance into or
out of a space. If a DC associated with
picking the lock is not listed, you can add one
WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, please enjoy The Game
Master’s Book of Traps, Puzzles and Dungeons. It was
created to serve as another tool in your arsenal as you
continue the often thankless task of visualizing myriad
ways in which to bring about your party’s untimely
demise. Consider each page as the start of something
rather than the end and you’ll be well on your way to
conjuring incredibly compelling adventures your players
will never forget.

yourself or share that the door is not locked.
FURNITURE. Your party may run into
an untold amount of tables, chairs and
more on their adventures and, while
e
At the very least, when one of your PCs says, “I check
for traps,” you’ll be able to sit back, a wolfish grin behind
your GM screen, fully prepared to show them the dangers
of curiosity, as the fireball-slinging sharks you spec’d out
circle just beneath their feet.

fil
some of them are certainly mimics, others are
just normal furniture. These items are presented
as aesthetic rather than vital to their respective
spaces unless otherwise noted.

TREASURE CHEST. This is meant to

represent a trunk, chest or hiding space
for valuables. Because a treasure cache can have a
significant impact on your game’s economy, these
chests should be considered empty unless you fill

e
them with loot, except where noted.

COLUMN. This icon will appear in

numerous dungeon chambers and is
pl
meant to represent a support column.
Columns can be used as suitable half cover unless
otherwise noted. Occasionally this symbol is
used to represent other elements of a room, with
details provided.

RECURRING ELEMENTS. Great pains were

m

taken to label the most important aspects of each

map in this book, but in some cases, labeling
every gear or fire spout or collection of soon-to-
be-walking bones meant littering each of the
maps with dozens of numbers, rendering the
details provided in each map practically moot.
As a solution, you’ll run into a few labels that
read like so: (1, one of many). This is meant to
Sa

indicate a visual example on the map, and you

should use your discretion to note where this
element repeats so you can accurately describe a
space to your party as they navigate it.

The Game Master’s Book of Traps, Puzzles and Dungeons 9